Transocean crew had proper training, but BP workers should have recognized warning signs, according to testimony

In this Wednesday, April 21, 2010 file photo, oil can be seen in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as a large plume of smoke rises from fires on BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

NEW ORLEANS — On Monday, Calvin Barnhill, owner of Northstar Exploration Co. in Lafayette, La., an engineering firm that specializes in oil and gas exploration and production, testified in the BP oil spill civil lawsuitthat Transocean crew members on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig "had the training that was necessary to understand" a basic well-control situation and to react to it, according to the Times-Picayune.

He also said, according to the report, BP workers should have recognized warning signs of a potential blowout of its Macondo well.

Barnhill was Transocean Ltd.'s first witness as the Swiss-based company, which leased the rig to BP PLC, started presenting its defense. Transocean president and CEO Steven Newman was scheduled to testify today, according to The Associated Press.

During cross-examination by plaintiffs' attorney Paul Sterbcow, Barnhill described "three basic $64 billion dollar questions" that remained unanswered in the wake of the Macondo well blowout.

According to the Times-Picayune, there were:

"Why a first negative pressure test, designed to determine whether cement had properly plugged the bottom of the well, was deemed a success; why the drilling operation wasn't stopped and the test repeated when questions were raised about its success; and why the oil well was not shut in to block the flow of hydrocarbons after a series of pressure anomalies were recorded, including during a second negative pressure test conducted between 9:30 p.m. and 9:36 p.m., minutes before the blowout, on April 20, 2010."